In 2015, friends Adam Kunes and Ben Petchel took a weekend road trip to Washington D.C. and New York City that would be the first of many more adventures. Along the way they volunteered with a few organizations. “When we got back,” says Adam Kunes, founder of Have Fun Do Good, “we said, ‘well we had fun and we did good,’ and that’s how this all really started.”
Kunes and co-founder Ben Petchel had met years earlier on a trip with Kunes’ former non-profit, Called to Serve, which took RV trips around the country with volunteer stops along the way. Petchel was hired as a trip photographer. The two remained friends when Kunes left the non-profit to pursue business. After their 2015 road trip, they decided to launch Have Fun Do Good, a Pittsburgh-based company that curates meaningful adventures for people who want to travel, as well as volunteer.
“We challenge the traditional vacation model,” says Kunes.
In 2016, they led their first group to the American Southwest, visiting Zion, Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon and Lake Powell, while volunteering with the National Parks. The company has added more experiences including trips to Costa Rica, Yosemite, the Great Smoky Mountains, Crater Lake and Breckenridge, Colorado. Each volunteering commitment is based on the needs of the partnering organization and is usually a few hours with each. The rest of the trip time is spent on adventures like river floating, swimming, hiking and more.
“We want to provide a diverse set of possibilities and experiences for our volunteering and our trips. Our volunteer work includes environmental preservation, disaster relief, animal rescues and working with people with disabilities,” says Kunes.
Have Fun Do Good was one of the first companies Adda Coffee and Tea House worked with when we first opened. The company’s mission to help communities and have fun doing it matches very closely with our values. Sign us up for the next trip!
If you’re interested in having fun and doing good, you can apply to participate on Have Fun Do Good’s website. Have Fun Do Good also offers flexible payment plans, so you don’t have to deplete your travel savings all at once!
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